Several meditators use meditation as a means to alleviate suffering. Meditation does indeed help reduce suffering by putting us in touch with our innermost selves, which is inherently free from mental and emotional afflictions. Regular practice of meditation helps us regulate our emotions and release them safely through loving attention.
The difficulty though is when meditation is used to escape suffering. It is a question of having the right attitude. We have to start off by recognising suffering, not bypassing it. Many meditators, including myself, use meditation and other spiritual ideas to rationalise (“Buddha said life is suffering”), deflect (“all this is Maya“) and even legitimise our suffering (“this is my Karma“). Some of us use breathing exercises and mantras to meditate our problems away. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) none of these techniques work in the long-term.
To meditate is to just be – that is – to face what is in the here and now. We do not meditate to create an inner state of bliss. We close our eyes, take a few deep breaths and begin to examine our the inner canvas of our meandering minds. We simply let whatever thoughts and emotions to be as they are. And if pain wells up, it just is. The attitude one takes is neither indulgence in the emotion, nor an avoidance of it. The middle path is to see things as they without wanting to change anything.
Developing this attitude is the key to freedom. Freedom from thoughts that begin to think us, emotions that begin to feel us. Freedom from an inner narrative that dominates our lives. Then meditation becomes an activity of intently listening to ourselves, not further a goal-seeking mind that has brought about so much misery unto us.
So, before you begin your next meditation session, pause and gently ask yourself, “What intention brings me here?”. And if you recognize a hidden desire to achieve a state of bliss, let that be too. And then, as you close your eyes, take the same attitude to all that arises.
Journey of a thousand words 